American industries fault RP drive vs piracy

Three American industry groups have urged Washington to keep the Philippines on a watch list of countries notorious for violating patents and copyrights, with one claiming that last year’s losses due to counterfeit goods roughly matched 2008 levels despite anti-piracy campaigns. The groups submitted separate position papers dated February 18 to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), which is preparing its annual Special 301 report. The document, which last year featured the Philippines on the ordinary watch list, will guide US monitoring efforts and decisions on which trade perks to possibly rescind. The usual complaints were raised — enforcement bottlenecks, the slow resolution of court cases, and Congress’ failure to pass bills that would have strengthened intellectual property right protection. In particular, the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) — an umbrella group for American publishing, software, film, television and music associations — said the Philippines should be elevated to the priority watch list because of "mounting" problems faced by copyright industries. The alliance also recommended a review of whether Philippine exports should still qualify for duty-free entry under the Generalized System of Preferences program. Business software companies lost $126 million last year to pirates in the Philippines, up by 4 percent from 2008 estimates, the IIPA claimed. Legitimate firms likewise lost $112 million to pirated music records in 2009 on top of the $117 million losses recorded in the previous year. As such, pirated software was claimed to have cornered a 71-percent market share here from 69 percent in 2008, while illegal copies of records maintained an-83 percent market share last year, the IIPA said. "While there is potential for positive change, piracy remains dominant in the market, and the situation in the Philippines has not improved significantly since the IIPA’s February 2009 Special 301 report," the group said. "Therefore, [we recommend] that the Philippines be placed on the Special 301 Priority Watch List" it added, lumping the country in the same category as China, India, Indonesia and Mexico, among others. The IIPA recommended the following priority actions — establishing IP courts and developing judges’ expertise, enacting laws to empower the government to punish Internet piracy and streamlining investigation procedures. Sought for comment, the state-run Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IP Philippines) said in an e-mail that it would be submitting a counter-statement to the USTR. The agency earlier wrote Washington advising it to view Philippine efforts more holistically by considering awareness campaigns. Meanwhile the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) also urged the USTR to move the Philippines to the priority watch list — alongside India and Indonesia — for implementing a law that allegedly weakens the protection of drug patents. The PhRMA reiterated claims that the "Universally Accessible Cheaper and Quality Medicines Act of 2008" is inconsistent with Philippines commitments to an international treaty. Provisions that allow the government to disregard patents and allow other firms to reproduce drugs when domestic supply is not adequate "creates a new ground for compulsory licensing" other than those outlined in the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement, it said. The PhRMA also complained that stakeholders had not been thoroughly consulted on mandated price cuts. IP Philippines has rebutted similar claims, saying the law on cheaper medicines had complied with TRIPS and that several consultations had been held regarding the measure. Another group, the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition (IACC), also raised concerns over piracy but merely recommended that the Philippines be retained in the ordinary level of the watch list with countries like Mexico, Brazil and Turkey. "Undoubtedly, the most frequently cited concerns by IACC members in the Philippines are tied to the judicial system — most notably, the significant delays experienced by rights holders pursuing civil or criminal actions against counterfeiters," it said. It conceded, however, that government efforts to establish special courts dedicated to intellectual property cases and train judges were a welcome development. "While the government has reportedly taken steps to substantially increase enforcement actions taken throughout the past year, reports from member companies do not indicate any significant decrease in the availability of counterfeits available in the market," the IACC said. A Philippine-based group, the Intellectual Property Coalition, Inc., echoed the IACC’s claim that the country’s intellectual property regime has not significantly improved, noting the slow progress of programs seeking to hasten court decisions and bills not being passed in Congress.